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Radio

PG Released Oct 24, 2003 1h 49m Drama List
35% Tomatometer 122 Reviews 79% Audience Score 100,000+ Ratings
In a racially divided town, coach Jones (Ed Harris) spots a mentally disabled African-American student named Radio (Cuba Gooding Jr.) near his practice field and is inspired to befriend him. Soon, Radio is Jones' loyal assistant, and principal Daniels (Alfre Woodard) happily notes that Radio's self-confidence is skyrocketing. But things start to sour when Jones begins taking guff from fans who feel that his devotion to Radio is getting in the way of the team's quest for a championship. Read More Read Less
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Radio

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Critics Consensus

The story is heavy on syrupy uplift and turns Radio into a saint/cuddly pet.

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Critics Reviews

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David Germain Associated Press Gooding and Harris' characters are too pure and high-minded to exist in the real world. Yet the small-town sense of community and compassion they evoke is so goodhearted, the movie manages an amiable, if fleeting, rise in spirits. Nov 12, 2018 Full Review Nell Minow Common Sense Media Lesson of kindness permeates inspiring true story. Rated: 4/5 Dec 28, 2010 Full Review Empire Magazine Rated: 2/5 May 14, 2004 Full Review Micheal Compton Bowling Green Daily News It's a film that has good intentions, [but] it's just unable to deliver, mainly because Gooding is never believable. Nov 15, 2019 Full Review Kaleem Aftab The List This is a case of cinema killing the radio star. Rated: 2/5 Apr 18, 2019 Full Review Joel Siegel Good Morning America Leave it to Hollywood to make a movie called Radio that would play better on TV. Rated: C+ Jan 5, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (1000+) audience reviews
Adrian G Puedo empatizar con Radio, pero pienso que minimizan mucho a los personajes principales en este tipo de películas, y ya es algo muy cliché. También se me hizo muy floja la motivación del entrenador. Igual se puede disfrutar. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/19/24 Full Review Rodrigo V Feel good movie/story..appreciate the little things in life. Heartwarming and tearjerker, can’t go wrong putting this film on Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/12/24 Full Review Dumont W Had a teammate in college we called radio... thanks to his haircut you bingo. I do think Cuba was AF for what it's worth. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 03/21/24 Full Review Kyle E Great movie. Based on a true story and well acted. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/07/23 Full Review Blu B You know coach is asked multiple times why he's doing this and says "I don't know really" well that shows. While it isn't as over the top and "Oscar Baitish" as Patch Adams, this struggles more telling a cohesive story especially in the middle where it really drags at points. Harris is decent and probably the best thing in this, but his character isn't that interesting and he's arguably more the main focus than anyone else. He doesn't really have any flaws or learn much compared to say Hoosiers. There isn't anything really broken about it as it's pretty fundamentally ok. It's main problems boil down to there isn't much here for a 100 minute story to fill. It feels like once the football season ends, stuff just happens and it makes you feel sorry for Radio every time, and it really starts to drag repeating the same points. Second, the fact the coach is the main focus rather than Radio doesn't work hat well mainly because of coach being uninteresting. Finally, while it's a cool true story it feels like this is something better suited for a 5 minute news report rather than a film. There just doesn't feel like there is much here especially the "conflict" with the one dude reporting Radio. It feels more manufactured than authentic. Also, everyone else pretty much just blends in, in this especially any kids on the teams. It feels like this is trying to be a biopic drama and a sports movie and never really makes the two work together well. It's slow and sappy but if your a die hard fan of any actors in this it might be wroth checking it out. I can't really recommend it for sports fans because the sports are secondary here. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/29/23 Full Review RICARDO A A Very Underrated Masterpiece, and you need to give it another chance and give it another watch, Cuba Gooding Jr. Would have Deserved an Oscar Nomination for this, his performance was Oscar Worthy Since his Performance as Rod Tidwell from Jerry Maguire! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Radio

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Movie Info

Synopsis In a racially divided town, coach Jones (Ed Harris) spots a mentally disabled African-American student named Radio (Cuba Gooding Jr.) near his practice field and is inspired to befriend him. Soon, Radio is Jones' loyal assistant, and principal Daniels (Alfre Woodard) happily notes that Radio's self-confidence is skyrocketing. But things start to sour when Jones begins taking guff from fans who feel that his devotion to Radio is getting in the way of the team's quest for a championship.
Director
Michael Tollin
Producer
Michael Tollin, Brian Robbins, Herb Gains
Screenwriter
Mike Rich
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Production Co
Revolution Studios
Rating
PG (Thematic Elements|Mild Language)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 24, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 25, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA)
$52.3M
Runtime
1h 49m
Sound Mix
Surround, DTS, SDDS, Dolby Digital
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